Compliments in Estonian. greetings

Russian-Estonian phrasebook: how to explain yourself in an unfamiliar country. Popular phrases and expressions for travelers.

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Estonian belongs to the Baltic-Finnish branch of the Finno-Ugric family and is the official language of Estonia and the European Union. The Old Estonian language was formed by the 12th-13th centuries as a result of the convergence of two or three dialects, which began to separate from other Baltic-Finnish dialects. The oldest known texts in Estonian date back to the 1520s. The creation of the modern literary Estonian language dates back to the 19th century.

Most Estonian words are of Finno-Ugric origin, but there are also borrowings from Germanic and Baltic languages. Examples of Russianisms: aken - window, jaam (from yam) - station, station, kiiver (from kiver) - helmet, helmet, lusikas - spoon, niit - thread, nädal - week, pagan (from pagan) - pagan, goblin, raamat (from letter) - book, rist - cross, sirp - sickle, turg (from Old Russian t'arg) - market, varblane - sparrow, värav - gate, värten - spindle, reel.

Estonian: first words

How to start a dialogue in any language? Of course, with greetings and acquaintances. Greetings are the simplest words in any foreign speech, since they occur every day and several times, and any dialogue begins with them.

The simplest and most versatile greetings the Estonian word for greeting is tervitamine in Estonian for all occasions - Tere! It also means "hello!" and "hello!", being both a simple form and a polite one. The second variation of this word is tervist! Tervist translates similarly to tere, but is more suitable for "you", something like the Russian "hello".

Greetings by time of day

If you want to say hello and wish your interlocutor a good day / morning / evening, etc., then the forms of greeting are as follows:

• « good morning This is usually from dawn to 12 noon.» = tere hommikust From the word hommik - "morning";
• « Good afternoon from noon until dark» = tere päevast From the word päev - "day";
• « Good evening starts around dusk» = tere Ohtust from the word õhtu - "evening".

You can also respond to a greeting like Tere õhtust with one word õhtust:

— Tere htust!
— Õhtust!

How to say goodbye in Estonian?

There are two simplest and most common phrases that complete a conversation in Estonian:
head aega ("goodbye", literally - " good hea - good time aeg - time» ),
kõike head ("all the best", from the word kõik - "everything").

Slightly less commonly used:

• nägemiseni - "goodbye" (from the verb nägema - "see");
• nägemist - “bye” (the simpler form nägemiseni, similarly to tere / tervist, is suitable when communicating on “you”);
• kohtumiseni - "see you" (from the verb kohtuma - "to meet");
• head päeva - "have a good day";
• head õhtut - "have a good evening";
• head ööd - "good night", "good night" (öö - "night").

Estonian youth often use the word "chao" - tšau. When translated into Russian, this also means "bye." It is not used in official addresses and in official speech.

To other words farewell The Estonian word for farewell is Hürastijätt.(on a specific situation) in Estonian include the following:

• kuulmiseni - “before communication”, “we will hear”;
• homseni - "until tomorrow";
• ülehomseni - "until the day after tomorrow";
• esmaspaevani esmaspäev - Monday- "till Monday";
• teisipäevani teisipäev - Tuesday- "till Tuesday";
• kolmapaevani kolmapäev - Wednesday- "till Wednesday";
• neljapaevani neljapäev - Thursday- "till Thursday";
• reedeni reede - friday- "till Friday";
• laupaevani laupäev - Saturday- "until Saturday";
• puhapaevani pühapäev - Sunday- "until Sunday";
• nadalavahetuseni nädalavahetus - weekend- "untill weekend".

Language in Estonia

When asked which language is the most widely spoken in Estonia, answer directly. This is Estonian. True, it has several forms. The official language in Estonia is divided into two dialects. These are North Estonian and South Estonian. In the south of the country, the dialect of the Seto peoples is also common. Although the state language of Estonia is literary Estonian, in the southern regions, locals use traditional dialects to communicate. Representatives of the Seto people also live in Russia, on the territory of the Pskov region.

In addition, the native language of Estonia for many residents of the country is Russian. At the end of the 19th century, the University of Tartu even taught in Russian. Today, Russian is represented in the country almost as the second official language. Although the state does not give it such a status, this Estonian language is very common in everyday life.

German is also spoken in the country. True, today this Estonian language is not so widely represented. In the 20th century, the number of Baltic Germans who emigrated to their homeland increased greatly. Therefore, today German is used in communication only in certain areas.

The modern Estonian alphabet is represented by Latin letters.